


sleepwalking through every morning

by punkjuggie



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alien!Michael, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23505559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkjuggie/pseuds/punkjuggie
Summary: "Alex has only been working the graveyard shift for a week, but he’s seen some weird shit in that week."
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 12
Kudos: 140





	sleepwalking through every morning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: "if you're still taking prompts, i have this weird idea for a malex au where michael is a stressed out UNM student and alex is the convenience store worker for the night shift. michael keeps showing up at 2 AM and buying large amounts of both cup noodles and nail polish remover, and alex is like...what the hell is this hot guy up to??" It's been in my inbox for almost a year but I got there. Enjoy this break from the angst of season 2 I guess?

i

Alex has only been working the graveyard shift for a week, but he’s seen some weird shit in that week. Working at the campus convenience store in the middle of the night means he mostly has to deal with three types of people: the sleep-deprived students pulling an all-nighter, the drunks coming in for snacks or more mixer or the weirdos that only come out at night, usually a little smelly and a little unhinged. 

At the end of his first week, there’s one guy that comes in that Alex can’t quite put into one of his categories. When he comes through the door at 2 AM, Alex notices immediately that the guy is gorgeous. His skin is faintly golden despite being in January and he’s got curly hair that Alex just _itches_ to pull on. Thankfully when he comes in, the store is empty because Alex’s whole focus has shifted to this stranger. 

Alex tracks his movement, watches him pile on cups after cups of instant noodles in his arms until they reach his chin. The guy then slowly starts to make his way to the counter but pauses in front of the toiletries. Alex blames what happens next on his own lack of sleep because there is no other way to explain the fact that a bottle of nail polish remover is floating in the air in front of his eyes. 

Except, it only lasts for a second, blink and you miss it, before the cute guy catches it in between two fingers without sending his mountain of noodles to the ground. Alex feels his mouth going slack and quickly shuts it, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand. 

It’s been a long night. A long week. 

“You can use a basket next time if you want,” Alex says without thinking. The cute guy smiles at the ground, a blush creeping up on his cheeks as he scratches the back of his neck. 

“Oh, right, sorry,” he says, looking sheepish. “I don’t usually have a problem carrying things.” 

Alex raises an eyebrow as he keeps scanning the noodles. He’d hoped the guy wouldn’t fall into his weirdo category but things aren’t looking so good for him. 

“Gourmet meal and nail polish remover for the girlfriend?” Alex cringes the moment the words are out of his mouth. He was hoping for subtlety but now that he hears himself out loud, he realizes that he probably just comes off as nosy. 

“No!” The cute guy answers, a little too quickly and Alex jumps at the unexpected volume. The blush is full-on now, and he’s sweeping the curls off his forehead and Alex cannot describe him as anything else than adorable. He clears his throat. “I mean no. No girlfriend.” 

An adorable weirdo. He doesn’t add anything else or try to explain and Alex thinks he’s made a fool of himself enough for one night. The cute guy pays, and Alex tries to ignore the way their hands brush when he passes him his bag. 

“Have a good night,” he tells Alex, with a small wave and a smile on his face and Alex feels his heart sink at the bottom of his stomach and turn into butterflies. The boy is gone before Alex can say anything and he’s once again alone in the store, but this time his heart is beating fast and he’s got a stupid grin on his face. 

Alex somehow manages to forget about the weird stuff like the floating nail polish remover for a non-existent girlfriend and only keeps replaying the sweet smile and pretty eyes in his mind instead. 

ii

The cute weirdo comes back a couple of days later. Alex looks up from the counter he was cleaning when he hears the store bell ring and immediately freezes when he sees him. The weirdo is smiling at him and Alex does _not_ forget how to breathe but his treacherous heart does start to beat a little faster. 

“I’m following your advice,” the weirdo says as he picks up a basket by the door. 

“Good,” Alex says, and he’s only a little choked up and if Maria could see him right now, she’d probably point out that he’s totally pathetic. Man up Manes. “Wouldn’t want you dropping stuff all over the store. More work for me.”

“Oh, I promise I would never,” the weirdo says, a hand over his heart as he makes his way to the counter. He looks at Alex for a moment before dropping his gaze to his nametag on his chest. “Alex.” The weirdo - the beautiful weirdo, now that he’s admired him from up close - flutters his eyelashes and turns around to go down the aisle. 

Alex blinks, trying to process what just happened. He’s pretty sure that was flirting. At least 98% sure. “Ran out of those ramen noodles already?” He asks because the other guy is funny and cute and Alex is intrigued and wants to know more about him. 

“No,” the weirdo chuckles. “You need to space it out a little, too much sodium isn’t good for you.” He opens the freezer door to get the last three boxes of Hot Pockets. 

Alex smiles as he leans over on the counter. “You know these are full of sodium too, right?” 

Instead of replying, the weirdo winks at Alex and carries on. Alex’s heart is beating so fast, he thinks he might die right here in the convenience store. _Pathetic_ , Maria’s voice chimes in his head.

Alex watches silently as the weirdo fills his basket with paper toilet, dish soap, Doritos and cookies, wondering why someone would come shopping at the ungodly hour of 2:45 AM. When he asks the weirdo after the silence has stretched on long enough, the other boy just shrugs. 

“Can’t sleep,” he says and chuckles when Alex raises one eyebrow. “I get a lot of school work done at night and when I need a break,” he pauses, grinning, “I come to see you.” 

Alex’s cheeks heat up and he rolls eyes, hoping it’ll distract the weirdo from the blush creeping up his face. “You’ve only seen me one time before today.” 

“And I came back for more,” he adds with another wink. 

Alex is 100% he’s flirting with him. 

“What are you studying?” he asks, mostly just to keep the conversation going. 

“Engineering,” he replies. “Almost burned down the residence hall twice…” He crouches down to pick up batteries and when he stands back up, he’s smiling at Alex. “This month.” 

Alex laughs, shaking his head. “You’re a menace.” 

“What about you, Alex? Let me guess: English major, studying the classics. Or philosophy.” Alex shakes his head again, biting back a smile. “Please tell me you’re not at Anderson.” 

“God, no,” Alex laughs and starts laughing harder at the look of pure relief on the weirdo’s face. “I’m in PoliSci.” 

The other boy is suddenly very close, putting his basket on the counter. “Good enough for me. Tell me, Alex, are you more of a Kit-Kat or M&Ms kind of guy?”

Alex is almost halfway through scanning the weirdo’s items when he notices the two bottles of acetone. Again. “What?” 

“You know what? You’re very cute so you can have both,” he says, dropping the candies on the counter. 

Alex blushes again and this time, he doesn’t even try to fight it. “I can’t-- I don’t even know your name!” 

The weirdo picks up his bags but leaves the chocolate on the counter and starts walking towards the door. “It’s Michael. Now eat your sugar so you don’t fall asleep before your shift is over. He opens the door with his hip but turns to look at Alex one more time. “Goodnight Alex. See you later.”

The weirdo - Michael - is already gone before Alex can reply. He rips open the bag of M&Ms and tries to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. 

iii

He doesn’t see Michael for another week and a half. He’d be lying to himself if he said that Michael wasn’t the main reason why he wasn’t resenting the graveyard shift anymore. Still, he’s always a little disappointed every time 5 AM rolls around with no sign of Michael. He figures this is another one of those nights when he realizes he’s only got 15 minutes left to his shift and Michael hasn’t shown up. Alex sighs and grabs a broom. 

He’s sweeping down one aisle, in front of the mac and cheese boxes when the door opens but Alex doesn’t bother looking up, thinking it’s probably Liz coming in for her shift. He keeps doing the clean-up until he hears a commotion near the rack with the pharmacy products, followed by a low groan. 

Alex starts walking towards the noise, broom still in hand and says, “Is everything alright?” He freezes when he sees Michael, bloodied and beaten, down on the floor surrounded by acetone bottles, on half-empty in his hand. 

“Hey Alex,” he says and when he smiles, Alex notices that his mouth is full of blood, though he doesn’t know if it’s from his bloody nose or his split lip. Michael blinks slowly and his speech is a little slurred when he says, “fancy seeing you here.”

“Are you drunk?” Alex asks, and through the panic, it occurs to him that this not what he actually wants to know. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Are you okay?”

Michael chuckles, a low sound that turns into a cough as he spits out blood. “Mm. Better now,” he giggles and raises the acetone bottle to his lips. Alex is quick though, even if he doesn’t quite understand what is going on, there’s one thing on his mind: Making sure Michael’s alright. “You can’t drink that,” Alex says, snatching the bottle from Michael’s hand. 

“Too little too late,” Michael giggles again and if he didn’t look so much like shit already, Alex would probably kill him. “I’m alright Alex,” he says, suddenly looking much sober, looking at Alex with slightly drooping eyes. He raises the hand that was holding the bottle and circles his fingers around Alex’s wrist, applying the faintest pressure. “Trust me.” 

Alex scoffs, “trust you? Michael, I barely know you and then you come in here looking half dead on your feet, making a mess--”

The acetone bottles on the floor start floating. 

Alex is 100% he’s losing his mind. 

“I clean up after myself,” Michael says and he has the audacity to say it with a bloody smile, while Alex is slowly working himself up to a panic attack. The bottles fall back down on the shelf. 

“How’d you do that?” Alex asks. He’s vaguely aware that he’s still kneeling in between Michael’s legs, Michael’s fingers still wrapped around his wrist but there are more pressing matters at hand. 

“Now Alex,” Michael begins but stops a second to cough up more blood. Alex’s own blood runs cold. He probably needs help. “A magician never reveals his secrets.”

Alex tries to suppress a smile; he doesn’t want to encourage him. He looks at his watch and realizes with relief that Liz should be here any minute now. “We need to get you to a hospital--”

“No hospital,” Michael interrupts him and he’s not smiling anymore. He looks dead serious and Alex wonders _what the hell is wrong with him_. 

“Your face is full of blood,” Alex points out and as he says it, he thinks that maybe he should have taken care of that first. Selfishly though, he knows the reason he didn’t move is that he likes the feeling of Michael’s hand on his skin. He stands up to reach for the wipes and the alcohol and pretends he doesn’t miss Michael’s touch. “You can barely stand.”

“I can stand,” Michael argues and starts to get his footing but immediately stumbles. Alex catches him, gently pushing up back against the shelf. Michael doesn’t put up a fight when Alex starts to clean up the blood on his face. 

“Also, I’m pretty sure you ingested some nail polish remover and you’ll need to get it out of your system. I’m actually surprised you haven’t puked it up yet.” 

“Alex…” Michael whispers, raising his hand to smooth over the frown lines on Alex’s forehead. Alex ignores the way his stomach erupt with butterflies and keeps wiping off the blood. “No hospitals.” Michael’s hand slowly traces down Alex’s face to stroke his cheek. “Please.”

Alex wants to groan, to scream, to shake the boy in front of him, the _weirdo_ he barely knows but desperately wants to get to know. He needs answers like _what is up_ with the acetone, _how_ he makes things float around him and _why_ would he choose the beef ramen noodles over the chicken. He needs to know why he always smiles so brightly at Alex and why it feels like he’s always known him, like this cosmic pull. He needs more time. 

Alex swallows thickly. “Okay,” he agrees. “No hospital. But let me take you back to my place.” 

“Alex, you sly dog,” Michael smiles slowly. “You’re not gonna ask me out on a date first?” 

“Shut up,” Alex laughs and keeps smiling when he hears Michael laughing with him. “My roommate is a medical student. If you won’t let me take you to a hospital, at least let him check you up.” Alex thinks Kyle is probably going to kill him for waking him up on one of his only day off but it’s a risk Alex is willing to take. 

Michael is silent for a moment, looking at Alex as if thinking it through and then nods slowly. “Yeah, okay. I can do that.” 

Alex breathes out, relieved. “Good,” he smiles. “Let’s go.” He grabs Michael’s arms and pulls him up to his feet, carrying most of his weight as they make their way to the door. Outside, in the dark parking lot, he sees Liz pulling up and smiles. “You’re gonna owe me so many more M&Ms by the way.” 

Michael giggles against Alex’s shoulder and Alex can’t help the smile growing on his face. “I’ll buy you all the M&Ms in the world.”

Alex is overcome with a sudden feeling of fondness. “Weirdo,” Alex mutters under his breath and when he feels Michael erupt in giggles again against his neck, there’s nothing Alex can do except squeeze Michael’s hand and keep walking. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm softguerin on tumblr, come say hi!


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